Try Me

Eighteen

Constant Threat 

"Where are you taking me?" Ezra asked as Jian  held her by the upper arm and all but dragged her through the hallways. She stumbled over her feet trying to catch up with him, her body still aching from her injuries.

"Just shut up and follow me." He responded coldly, not sparing her a glance. A sharp pain spread through her chest, her broken ribs not ready for all these sudden movements and she hunched over, clutching her torso in pain. Jian let go of her arm and groaned in annoyance before staring down at her in disdain.

"What's wrong with you now?" He questioned and Ezra glared at him.

"I was literally hit by a car asshole."

"Yeah well who's fault is that?" He shot back and Ezra bit her lip, trying her hardest not to say anything to provoke him.

"Will you two ever go a day without wanting to kill each other?" A voice asked, and Ezra stood up straight, slightly frightened that it was Yong. Sebastian stared back at them with crossed arms and a raised brow, "Where are you taking her?" 

"Yong asked me to bring her to him, I don't know more than that." Jian responded with annoyance, he was starting to feel more and more like an errand boy with each passing day. He didn't wait for Sebastian to say anything else. Instead, he grabbed Ezra's arm again roughly and pulled her with him. They passed by Sebastian and Ezra turned around to give him a desperate look. Was she about to die? Was this it? 

Soon enough they were outside and she squinted, eyes adjusting to the sudden sunlight. Ahead of them was a black Jeep against which Yong was leaning. 

"Here she is." Jian spoke, suddenly pushing her infront of him and towards Yong. She stumbled over her feet at the sudden action, loosing her balance and ultimately causing her to fall forward. However, a pair of strong arms shot out and caught her fall, preventing her from causing anymore injury to herself. Yong helped her up and steadied her. Ezra closed her eyes for a second as she fought back a scream, she was done with all of this. She opened her eyes again and allowed them meet his eyes, as second passing before she abruptly removed herself from his touch.  

"What the fuck is your problem?" She seethed, turning to confront Jian. She expected a harsh and snarky response but instead she got a mumbled apology as he looked at the floor and kicked rocks. She frowned in confusion, which was to be expected as she hadn't seen the seering glare Yong was sending his way from behind her. 

"Ezra get in the car." Yong ordered, she looked between him and the car skeptically. She wanted to fight him, to defy him, to give him hell and fight. But the truth is;  she was tired, she was in pain, both physically and emotionally, and she just wanted to be done with all of this. To both her and Yong's surprise she found herself entering the backseat of the Jeep without argument, Rose was already in the passenger seat up front and Yong got into the driver's seat not too long after. If this was the car ride to her death, then, she could only hope it would be quick. 

***

Ezra sat up slightly, brows knitted together in confusion as the streets and  houses they passed by started to look familiar and when the car finally came to a halt metres away from a particular house, she found herself fully alert, hand on the car door handle, itching to be freed.

"W-what are we doing here?" She asked turning to face Yong, her voice held a hint of hope. The only reason she could imagine he would have brought her here was if he was finally ready to let her go back to her family and friends, back to her life. She glanced back at the house, already imagining how Sonny and the others would react when she would walk through the door, a small smile forming on her face at the thought. In her delusion she missed the pitiful glance Rose sent her way.

"You're going to go in there and tell them that you've relapsed, you're going to tell them that you're a danger to yourself and those around you. That everything is alright but you need to get help and therefore you won't be available for a time." Ezra's face dropped as she slowly turned towards Yong.

"Y-you want me to do what?" He didn't say anything, not even turning in his chair to look back at her.

"You heard me." He said coldly, hands still on the steering wheel. "When you stupidly decided to call your friend that day you should have known I would have to do something about it. They've been looking for you, asking too many questions. It's either this, or I'll put a bullet through each of their heads." Ezra's head slowly turned away from him back towards the house. Her face was a portrait of internal struggle, brows furrowed and her lips tightly pressed together in a desperate attempt to hold back the flood of emotions threatening to take her. A single tear hung loosely on the edge of her eyelid, glistening and ready to be exposed. She couldn't do this, she couldn't put them through that ordeal knowing that it almost broke them last time, knowing what it did to her family.

She fought against the overwhelming feeling of despair, one that threatened to consume her, and clenched her, curling her trembling fingers into fists. The air seemed heavy, filled with unspoken pain and the weight of her unshed tears.

"I can't." She said quietly but firmly. "I can't lie to them, not about that. You'll have to kill me first." Yong scoffed, chuckling slightly before finally turning around his seat to face her.

"Ezra." He warned.

"No!" She screamed, Rose, who she had forgotten was even in the car with them, flinched back in shock, looking between the two wearily. Yong remained emotionless, however his jaw was clenched tightly, he was holding himself back. "I won't do it! Just kill me, you've been threatening to do it for weeks so just do it. Kill me and be done with it you bastard!" She cried, breathing heavily as the two stared each other deeply in the eyes. Yong still remained quiet, several seconds passed and he looked at his watch before looking out the window, Ezra followed his gaze only to see Sonny, kicking rocks as he held on to his backpack straps, returning home from school. Metres behind him was Jian, hand inside his jacket pocket, ready to withdraw a gun at any ordered moment.

"Sonny!" Ezra screamed, hurriedly trying to open the car door while banging against the window but it was futile. "Sonny!" She cried desperately and Yong smiled darkly.

"I won't kill him, darling, don't worry. He's just a kid. Jian will just make sure he walks with a painful limp for the rest of his life, that's all." He said with a shrug and Ezra glared at him.

"You sick fuck." She spat, "Leave him alone, he's got nothing to do with any of this."

"Sure, I'll leave him alone. In fact, you'll even get to see him. You just have to do what I tell you.It's all up to you." Ezra looked between Yong's dark, unforgiving eyes and out the window towards Sonny and she knew, she knew she had no choice. She probably never did.